Obesity and bureaucracy

The CDC’s findings in a recent Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) fly in the face of almost a decade of threats by obesity activists (5/28, A-1, “Child obesity’s steady rate continues to give pause”). The agency’s research demonstrates that childhood obesity rates haven’t increased since 1999.

During that time, a handful of “experts” have likened weight gain to terrorist threats, global warming and other equally calamitous scenarios. But statistics of “skyrocketing” rates of obesity among our kids only serve as justification for the increasingly intrusive government regulations sought by activist groups and overeager health officials. This research quiets those shrill and unfounded claims.

Clearly parents, schools and businesses have all taken it upon themselves to make sure our children get enough physical activity and a balanced diet.

Though these findings demonstrate that it doesn’t take obtrusive government policies to curb children’s weight, longtime obesity activist David Ludwig, who wrote an editorial accompanying the JAMA study, is still arguing that these results prove the need for more bureaucratic intervention.

It seems that no matter the news, good or bad, there will always be opportunists willing to leverage our kids’ health as an excuse to meddle in our lives.